A Theory of Fun for Game Design
- Book Review,
by Ralph Koster
From Book News, Inc.
The chief creative officer at a major online entertainment company- cum-frequent writer on game design and virtual communities provides justification as to why games can be good teachers. For game designers and users, Koster addresses such serious issues as what games teach, what constitutes fun, and the ethics of entertainment. Cartoons illustrate points. Distributed by O'Reilly.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Cory Ondrejka, Vice President, Linden Lab
Everyone from professional game developers to those who want to understand why we play games will enjoy this book.
Henry Jenkins, Director, MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program
A book about fun which is actually fun to read. It reminds me of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics.
Cory Doctorow, Author of Eastern Standard Tribe and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, co-editor of Boing Boing
Does for games what Understanding Comics did for sequential art.
Robin Hunicke, Northwestern University
A thoughtful take on how and why games are fun (and important)... chock full of insights, jokes and asides.
Cory Ondrejka, VP, Linden Lab
"You've written a wonderful starting point for research and many future dinner conversations!"
Noah Falstein, Freelance Game Designer/Writer/Producer
"I expect this book to become an instant classic, fascinating to anyone who has ever made or played a game."
Henry Jenkins, Director, MIT's Comparative Media Studies Program.
"Raph Koster offers a road map for how to make games an even more expressive medium."
David Perry, President Shiny Entertainment (Atari, Inc.)
"Raph's focus on finding new ways to communicate complex design issues has been an incredible benefit to game developers"
Cory Doctorow, Author of Eastern Standard Tribe and Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom; co-editor of Boing Boing
"Does for games what Understanding Comics did for sequential art. You'll never look at fun the same way again."
Book Description
A Theory of Fun for Game Design is not your typical how-to book. It features a novel way of teaching interactive designers how to create and improve their designs to incorporate the highest degree of fun. As the book shows, designing for fun is all about making interactive products like games highly entertaining, engaging, and addictive. The book's unique approach of providing a highly visual storyboard approach combined with a narrative on the art and practice of designing for fun is sure to be a hit with game and interactive designers, At first glance A Theory of Fun for Game Design is a book that will truly inspire and challenge game designers to think in new was; however, its universal message will influence designers from all walks of life. This book captures the real essence of what drives us to seek out products and experiences that are truly fun and entertaining. The author masterfully presents his engaging theory by showing readers how many designs are lacking because they are predictable and not engaging enough. He then explains how great designers use different types of elements in new ways to make designs more fun and compelling. Anyone who is interested in design will enjoy how the book works on two levels--as a quick inspiration guide to game design, or as an informative discussion that details the insightful thinking from a great mind in the game industry.
From the Publisher
A Theory of Fun for Game Design is not your typical how-to book. It features a novel way of teaching interactive designers how to create and improve their designs to incorporate the highest degree of fun. As the book shows, designing for fun is all about making interactive products like games highly entertaining, engaging, and addictive. The book’s unique approach of providing a highly visual storyboard approach combined with a narrative on the art and practice of designing for fun is sure to be a hit with game and interactive designers, At first glance A Theory of Fun for Game Design is a book that will truly inspire and challenge game designers to think in new was; however, its universal message will influence designers from all walks of life. This book captures the real essence of what drives us to seek out products and experiences that are truly fun and entertaining. The author masterfully presents his engaging theory by showing readers how often designs are! lacking because they are predictable and not engaging enough. He then explains how great designers use different types of elements in new ways to make designs more fun and compelling. Anyone who is interested in design will enjoy how the book works on two levels--as a quick inspiration guide to game design or as an informative discussion that details the insightful thinking from a great mind in the game industry.
From the Author
In this book, I decided to tackle the questions of what games are, what fun is, and why games matter. A lot of people are exploring these questions now, and digital games have become big business. The time is ripe for us to dig deeper into the many questions that games raise. In the final analysis, I think that work and play aren’t all that different, and A Theory of Fun explains why I came to that conclusion.
About the Author
Raph Koster is the Chief Creative Officer for Sony Online Entertainment. For many years he has served as a lead designer for teams building online virtual worlds. His first job was as a designer working on persistent worlds at Origin Systems, where he was the creative lead for Ultima Online, opening the online persistent world market to the general gaming public. At Sony Online Entertainment, he was the creative director for Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided.
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